Index 
(engl. Ring-Tor)
Ballabene's Astral Pages

Intentions, Affirmations and Imaginations
Triggering OBE'S 

Alfred Ballabene 
(alfred.ballabene@univie.ac.at)
Copyright © 1996, Alfred Ballabene, all rights reserved. 

This article was first published in Charles Goodin's homepage

 
 
Disclaimer! Trance methods, meditations and OBE techniques can be dangerous for psycholabile persons and persons with psychological diseases. Further awakened inner forces can get out of control by peoples with great problems and uncontrolled fears. Any attempts to perform methods as described in these articles are done by own risk!

Bodily Basis For OBE's

Relaxation (Savasana) for trance:

Lay with your back on the floor, with a flat pillow underneath your head. Turn your head aside, to prevent your relaxed tongue occluding the respiratory tract, which could hinder you in breathing and make you snore (which may cause awakening). Furthermore the above quoted head position prevents saliva to flow into the trachea. Place your hands close to the body. Then relax, and use additional imaginative techniques.

To improve muscle relaxation:

Contract all muscles especially those of the spine: lift your back from the floor in a bow. Heels and shoulder alone are touching the bottom. Then relax and let you fall at the floor. By this way of muscle tension you get a better muscle feeling and the whole body relaxation is better afterwards.

Stretching the spine:

Stretch your heels as far away as possible, then set them on the floor and pull so as you want to elongate your spine like moving as a worm. While doing this stay with your shoulder fixed on the floor. The pulling heels will stretch your body, mainly the spine. Afterwards you start to relax.

To "switch off" the body:

Check the grade of relaxation of limbs and body, starting with your feet. Move your feet some what, to get a better feeling of them. Do the same with your arms and so necessary with your head and the muscles of your face.
Then relax.

Have a final inner (thus without moving) control of the feet upwards to the ankles.... you feel them relaxed .... imagine a switch at the ankles and turn the switch off. This part of your body now will be cut off your awareness.

Now control your relaxation of the following section of the legs upwards to the knees ... imagine a switch at the knees and turn the switch off. This part has dropped out of consciousness as well.

You go further upwards to the hips.
Then you repeat the same procedure with your arms and then with your trunk and afterwards with your face. Now your awareness has no further bond to the body and is directed towards the inner realms.

Further aspects of body positions you can find in Relaxation Based Methods ("Floating Out")

OBE's, Started by Automatisms (Triggered By Intentions and Affirmations)

General statements:

The dominant factor in OBE-ing is set by the subconscious, in all states, independent of the fact if you are in trance or in sleep. All the flying dreams, the bright and colorful dreams and as well false awakening are produced by the subconscious. What you need to do is to deepen an inner impulse (affirmation) which is strong enough to make you lucid and to start OBE's (when starting from dreams states or from hypnagogic states).

Trance is not handled as easily as many persons think, because your will has to relinquish the leadership to the subconscious, which will be the primary authority to decide, if you will stay awake, if trance will be started, or if you will fall asleep. Therefore the subconscious on the one hand is a valuable tool for you, if you are able to trigger it by right intention, affirmation and imagination and on the other hand can be difficult like an untamed horse.

The intention/affirmation which triggers the subconscious is very subtle and has its own symbolic language. A pure intellectual decision as to  have an adventure or to learn about the secrets veiled in yourself is not sufficient (because in the  "border to sleep" states your willpower and intellectuality are diminuished) . The signal directed to your subconscious in order to trigger an OBE state has to be precise in the aim and powerful by emotion and desire. (Of course this all counts for OBEs which are started by will. This article does not deal with spontaneous OBEs.)

Emotion:

The effect of emotions: Desire is a respectable inner force. Very often astral travels to beloved deceased are started by this inner force. The same counts for great sadness which may increase your level of endorphines or other transmitters which are involved as triggers for an elevated state of lucidity. Regard that the brain state is at least as important as the body state.

The effect of relaxation: The relaxation is of influence on heart beat frequency, the tonus of bloodvessels in consequence to the blood pressure and the latter is of influence on the oxygen supply of the brain and triggers several wake/sleep mechanisms of the brain about which I am not informed.

Beside these above mentioned  strong emotions a mere desire for experiencing an OBE can be sufficient as well to actualize an OBE, if the feeling and the remembrance of last OBEs is fully present. Especially in "half asleep" states you may use  desire and remembrance to actualize OBE states. (Desire and remembrance are actualized - by looking at a picture, remembering events, starting religious love feelings by lightening a candle)

Religiosity is of no influence for etheric OBE-ing, but well of influence on astral travelling. You seldom may  start an astral travel by religious feelings alone but the quote of spontaneous astral travels may increase. Of course the religious orientation is as well of influence on the quality of OBEs. A dogmatic and polarized view very often leads to confrontations with demon- or devil-like creatures. Negative astral travels (which you can cut imediately, however, if you like) very often are caused by intolerance and aggression which are characteristic for a point  of view of heaven-hell polarization, typical for  fundamentalists. Fear may be considered as a hidden aggression and therefore attracts spheres of aggression. At the other hand a  person full of love meets lovely worlds.

Awareness:

Expand your inner awareness (regard: inner awareness - a kind of space feeling -  and not sensory perception) towards the room or to the surrounding. Don´t allow  your attention directing  inwards to fantasies and thought-dreaming or to glide away to senseless threads of thoughts.  Instead keep your awareness directed outwards, just waiting attentively and being alert. This kind of awareness has to become so dominant, that it persists subconsciously while you fall asleep after some time. Then afterwards following the sleep period you get half-awake and the outward directed awareness will be actualized automatically (if input was strong enough and had worked as a kind of posthypnotic order). Now you have come by means of a natural way to the most important basis for OBEs: perfect relaxation and a conscious shifted to inner awareness.

Affirmations:

It is said that by continuous repeating affirmations it is possible to implant orders into your subconscious. The subconscious then will follow your orders. Such an order for instance could be to get lucid. See article of Ed Erst 4).

Examples for affirmations:

I shall have a very vivid dream ..... I shall remember at least one dream ..... I shall have colorful dreams .... I shall get awake in dream and be lucid .... I shall have an OBE ..... I shall have an astral journey....

Working with tape and clock:

You can record your affirmations on a tape and switch on the recorder by means of an alarm-clock at a time when you are asleep. Trigger the volume in the right way. You can use affirmations on tape to create half- sleep or light-sleep states, in which you usually have a better dream control.

Tape for brief sleep sequences:

You can use a tape to awaken you in REM-sleep in the morning. Record on your tape and after every spoken sequence leave a longer silent interval, so that you can fall asleep again in every sequence of silence. You will have dreamlets in which you may have more control and in which you can study dream mechanisms. Starting with dreamlets you learn to manage dreams in your way.

Using a ritual:

A ritual is a magic symbol-language, which is of greater "authority" to the subconscious than an intellectually made decision. Support your magic order by optical and movement impressions. In consequence more archaic sectors of the brain are involved, as it would be done by means of thoughts or spoken words, which latter are processed in a semantically organized sector of brain, a part which evolved in a late evolutionary period (and is not responsible for such elementary states). Though it sounds old fashioned, nevertheless a well performed ritual will be of great use.

Imaginations As Autohypnotic Inductions For OBE's And Inner Journeys

How to start an OBE by imagination:

If you keep your imagination in full concentration and alertness, nothing will happen. Many people don't know this and are frustrated by the unsuccessful trials, though they feel to have done everything "in the right manner". If you want to start an OBE, there has to be an interval, at least a short moment between imagination sequence and the start of OBE-ing, in which a change of quality of consciousness occurs. This interpolated phase may be a short dream or a glide into trance. Images for trance mostly can be used as OBE induction. Furthermore the imagination has to have an affirmative aspect, outlasting the interpolated phase.

General considerations:

A great variety of induction methods is used in psychotherapy for hypnosis and autohypnosis. The most conventional methods, however, often do not fit for OBE-ing. For instance the method using  the hypnotic order "to go deeper and deeper" has its negative side-effects. In the therapy by this imagination it is meant to go into deeper regions of the subconscious, to unveil repressions. Examples:  to dive into the ocean, to go downstairs etc. OBE-ers who had several astral travels, however, sometimes associate these orders with descendence to lower astral regions, which are "hell regions". In relation to the subconscious as well the deeper regions are more chaotic and aggressive. Years ago I experienced following scenario:
 
 

Bal.: "To gain some experience in hypnotic methods I asked a friend, who is therapist, to have some sessions with me. Because I was interested to see how these methods could be used in Yoga, I asked him to guide me as intensely as possible to cosmic love. We started and he asked me to lift my right hand as a mark for the degree of love. When love would increase my hand should rise and in the highest state should touch my forehead. Speaking in a calm and friendly way as usual, he led me to good relaxation and spoke to me about love. My hand slowly started to rise (I felt no tiredness in the arm by holding it upwards). Then he spoke to me: "Now you go downstairs, deeper and deeper". He repeated this order for several times. I did as he had ordered and felt how I went down a stair, which in inner sight was in faint light and then I entered a cloudy grassland. Again there was the order to go deeper and I went down a further stair, now gloomy, and I entered a plain in twilight. My hand slowly sank down. At last I felt to be in a dark plain, with danger threatening from all sides. There were no herbs, only stones and nothing to hide. All sides were full of thorny and sharp things. I tried intensely to feel love but I was unable even to feel a minimum of love and my hand sank down on the knee. Thus the session became a great flop."

 

Triggering etheric OBE´s, general aspects:

OBE´s in the kind of "stepping out of the body" are induced by activating the motoric center of cortex, as I suppose. From this part of brain alertness spreads to the other centers (visual and semantic areas) creating lucidity. (In astral travelling the visual area seems to be the starting point.)

a) Body feeling as necessary for OBE´s in the kind of "stepping out of the body" (see: Alfred Ballabene 1)) is gained by awareness on vibrations, by imagination of body movements, and by space feeling. For OBE-ing in the sense of "stepping out of the body" imaginations of active body motions will do best.

b) Body feeling in OBE´s in the kind of "floating out of the body" (see: Alfred Ballabene 1)) is generated by body awareness when relaxing. OBE-ing in the sense of "floating out of the body" may be triggered by imagining your body being moved in a passive way, like being carried away. If you are not able to fall in trance, it may work nevertheless in form of an inner order which will be actualized in sleep or at the border of sleep.

Triggering astral travelling, general aspects:

Astral travelling is induced when the visual sense is dominating. This requirement is fulfilled in dreams as well. Therefore, when an OBE is started out of a dream, it will mostly be an astral travelling and seldom an etheric OBE (except in the phase between two dreams or when the dream is dealing with body feeling). An additional inductive impulse is caused by religious and spiritual emotions (because these emotions direct you away from  the material  to the transcendental sphere). Furthermore imaginations  of speedy, far distance travelling like flying will do best for astral travelling.

Practical aspects:

The first times when you use an autohypnotic system, I recommend to record the text (examples see later) sedatively and persuasively on a tape. After several sessions you can start trance without using a tape. To be less disturbed by noise from outside and to support autohypnotic process, calm music may work very well. Furthermore rhythms of the drum and monotone rattling may improve trance.

In autohypnotic inductions for trance (especially for "floating out of the body" experiences and also for astral travelling) your body plays a passive part (is carried away) as opposed to methods for "stepping out", in which you move your body actively (in imagination).

Examples of different categories of imaginations:

moving actively in nearby distance:

This fits for the method "stepping out of the body". Imaginations:  rocking forth and back ..... stand up and get out of your body as if your body would be a bathrobe (this situation imagining perpetually) ..... pulling yourself out of the body with your hands by grasping a hold ..... walking in the room ..... dancing in the room...

moving actively in far distance:

This fits for astral projection and is done in "near sleep" state (at the border of sleep): Flying away like a bird..... driving a car, aircraft, rocket, boat ..... gliding on skates, skate-board, on skis .... being blown in the air as if you were a feather ..... moving in spacious jumps...

being elevated (listed in Ballabene 1):

Fits for "floating out of the body": Flying in an aircraft or balloon ..... go by a fast train or bus..... being carried away on a cloud ..... sitting in a ski-lift ..... going upwards a lift ..... being a leaf and being carried away by the wind ..... be carried by a wave ..... sliding up or down an escalator

passing a border (-zone):

For astral travelling: Passing fog, a river, mountains, a door ..... look through a window ..... look into a mirror and pass ..... look into a painting and get it vivified .... pass "heavens gate" ..... pass a ring of smoke ..... pass a tunnel ..... be pulled into a whirl ..... a long straight street ..... crossing the sea ..... taking stairs...

projecting:

Imagine to watch a television or a movie and project into the scene (you can watch TV in reality before you start your attempts). ..... zoom into an imagined or visualized landscape ..... zoom into "nothing" ..... look and project yourself through a telescope....

time travelling:

visit a museum and pass the rooms, each one representing a passed epoque. ..... look at the single pictures of a film in backward direction to more and more past times ..... turn the pages of a book ..... look at an hour-glass and think about time passing ..... visit a churchyard...

dissolve your body identity:

These are methods for higher consciousness states (cosmic consciousness) and higher planes. Your body is made of air, of fog or a cloud and dissolving ..... your body is hollow ..... expanding by far and afterwards your body is retracting (see: part meditation, meditation on Tara).

stimulation of motoric brain areas:

This method works only with body awareness: The imaginations include all variations of body engagement and work because of two reasons:
- creating distant body awareness helps to create a "second body" (double).
- because imagination itself is brain-work and helps to sustain a higher level of alertness in near sleep (or in sleep/dream) states.
 

Examples of Charles Goodin: "Practicing karate in the mind" and play a sport, jog..."  Further quoted in the same article: "she mentally played the piano" (besides mentally using her hands she certainly felt rhythmic elements, which are associated to body movements).

Reply by John Crystal (4-Oct 1995): .."I play my guitar... Works for me!"

"Water Skiing Method of Projecting" by Matt Holmes 5) 49 different imaginations were posted in the news group by Charles Goodin 6). I hope you will find the article in his home page. Most of his quoted imaginations include elements of body movement.

 

Meditation for expanding inner awareness:

Inhaling: While taking a breath have the feeling to inhale spiritual power. Establish an inner connection with the transcendence as a sphere of love. Imagine to inhale the spiritual energy from above through the top of your head.
Exhaling: While breathing out direct your awareness outwards through the forehead as a kind of expanding space-sensing.

Boat imagination:

You lie in a boat and watch the white clouds (look at them as a symbol for thoughts) which slowly glide in the sky. In the calm swinging of the boat you enter a peaceful and well balanced state. Your past daytime impressions fade away and seem to belong to a far away world and have become unimportant. Thoughts fade away and are replaced by quietness and peace.

Tunnel imagination:

Create a detailed image of a cave or a tunnel. Then enter and pass until you see a light, signaling the end of the tunnel (see: A. Ballabene 1).
 
 


Bal.: "To gain new experiences some of our group had learned to use shamanistic methods in seminars. The rest of us was eager to learn from our group fellows and therefore we had rented a basement room. We lay down on the floor and were ordered first to get in touch with our animal guide. While the drum was beaten we started our journey. I had chosen the imagination of a rock-cave to start my journey to the underworld. I passed a long tunnel and after a time, I don´t know how long it was, I saw a light in front of me, which soon came closer. It was the end of tunnel and I entered a plain in full daylight. I had passed about 100 meters, when I saw a wooden stable, about 50 meters away from the place I stood. The most fascinating impression, however, was a very beautiful horse, which turned and looked at me. This horse seemed to be my animal guide responding to my inner call. I had nothing to do with horses up to this time, but years later circumstances led me to start horse-riding, which I then did every Saturday or Sunday, now for years. It seems to be some kind of late realization of my vision when I am now going on horse-back with "Igor" a black gelding and we both go into the beautiful landscape of Carnuntum (a former Roman fortification situated on the river side of the Danube)."

 

Painting figures in the sand:

Imagine to be at a beach, standing with bare feet on golden sand. You are alone, surrounded by a beautiful landscape. With a stick or your finger-tip you draw the number 5 into the sand. Now draw a circle around the 5 and step into the circle. After a while a wave erases the number and the circle. Again you draw a number inside a circle into the sand. Now it is the number 4. The number is again erased by a wave and you go on with further numbers until you have reached zero in a circle. When this cipher is erased, your everyday life remembrance is erased as well. You are in trance and have entered a new world. After a while, when returning from your journey you recall the numbers again and this time in upward sequence (using a tape, later by mere imagination).

The seven halls:

You enter a hall in red light and pass without having a look aside, fixing the door in front of your way. Upon arrival at the door you open it and you enter a green hall. You go on and pass seven halls in the colors as following or in the colors of the seven chakras or in colors of your own preference:
Red ... green .... blue .... violet .... orange .... yellow .... white.
When you have opened the last door you enter an unknown world.

Journey to past lifes:

You are sitting at an old wooden table with an old pergament book in front of you. You meditatively turn the pages. Candles on the table with their flickering light cast moving shadows on the room, converting the scene into a magic world of shadows. An old clock is ticking tuck...tuck...tuck.. Every sound of the clock is like a step in a more and more ancient time. The room fades away and scenes made of blurred shadows emerge. By and by the sight clears again and you start to catch a sight of scenes in ancient and lost times.

Projecting to a "real" place:

OBE-ing by intensive imagination of a walk in a well known surrounding is an old technique passed on from the early times of occultism. Before you start imaginations go to a place of your choice and note every detail in your mind. Close your eyes and memorize the details, then open the eyes and check your memory. In this way improve your remembrance of details. At home relax and recall the place in imagination and have a walk there. Take care of perfect body imagination and go slowly, step by step and look at every detail of your surrounding. Being in full concentration you forget about your present situation (of being at home) and you subsequently start to be in "reality" at the place of imagination.
 

Bal.: A member of our group who had studied physics and who was good in electronics, had borrowed an amplifier from a medical institute to set up an EEG-recorder. He wanted to control relaxation of our group members by registration of brain signals. To have a better feedback the frequency-range of the recorded brain potential could be monitored by sound, which became the deeper the lower the frequency was. We all were eager to test our abilities for the short time the amplifier could be used. So I lay down on the floor, electrodes on my head and behind the ears, pasted with salty gel-electrolyte. The apparatus was switched on and I started to relax. By choice I decided to imagine a walk in the nearby shopping area. It was a slow walk, every step was imagined and I had a look to each shop-window I passed. The surrounding became more and more concrete and the awareness of the room in which I was lying faded away. Suddenly I was shocked awake by noise and switched on light." The trigger for frequency range did not work", the physicist said, who interpreted the deep sound in his way; - the experience was over.

 

Literature:

1) Alfred Ballabene: Experiences In The Etheric And Astral Body
2) Tips of Charles Goodin, posted in alt.out-of-body, 3 Nov 1995
3) Steve Ritter: "Your Journey Begins Here..." homepage cancelled
4) Ed Erst: "Affirmation And OOBE"
5) Matt Holmes, in Astral Projecting Home Page of Charles Goodin, Tips, May 1995
6) Article of Charles Goodin in the news group alt.out-of-body, 3 Oct 1995. Copyright © 1996, Alfred Ballabene. All rights reserved. You can use the pictures or the text, if the author (A. Ballabene) and source is cited.

>>> Ring-Tor (Engl.)<<<

Ring-Tor (German main index)